Soviet Storm: WW2 In the East

Soviet Storm is a new and epic television history of the Second World War’s Eastern Front. Giving an unprecedented Russian perspective on the war’s most decisive and bloody theater.

This was a conflict of staggering scale and savagery. Four out of five German soldiers killed in World War Two died on the Eastern Front. The Red Army suffered ten times as many dead as the Western Allies combined.

The total dead on all sides was more than 30 million, most of them civilians. The war was seen by both sides as a struggle for existence. In that light, Hitler and Stalin were prepared to accept losses on any scale to achieve final victory.

Soviet Storm tells the story of this titanic clash of arms blow by blow. Using archive film and photography, computer generated imagery and innovative reconstructions,

From the German invasion of 22 June 1941 Operation Barbarossa (the largest military operation in history), through to the brutal fighting outside the gates of Moscow, the savage street-fighting of Stalingrad, and the long, bloody road to Berlin, this is an epic retelling of the world’s most devastating conflict.

77 Comments / User Reviews

Pie, it is full of propaganda by its very definition, but the thing is so is almost every documentary that you will ever see in regards to history and war, especially when they were or still are involved in the geopolitics (and even more so when that documentary will be playing on your national TV stations in educational and history time slots).

The difference is how noticeable it is here, which actually speaks to how "western" media has embraced and (arguably) mastered the methods of propaganda, making attempts like this look amateurish and smack of nationalism, rather than subtly performing the same task.

I still very much enjoyed watching these though as it provides a different bias that I am used to, which is interesting to view in juxtaposition to our accounts, while also providing some very interesting information even through the bias.

Well, it actually has no propaganda about the war apart from not mentioning that the soviets also took a chunk of Poland. Unlike every Wester Documentary I have seen that says that the US, Britain and France won the war.

Viktor
- 03/31/2020 at 21:58

I've watched these series dozens (if not a hundred of more) times and there's absolutely no propaganda to be seen here.

Pie
- 07/09/2015 at 21:09

For those who commented that this is Russian propaganda I must say that this is untrue.
I just watched all 18 episodes of this documentary the last few days and I must say it is told without propaganda. Yes they do highlight some specific deeds mentioned as "Hero of the Soviet Union" but they also do highlight the strategic mistakes they made and they also mentioned the high rape and plunder. If it was propaganda they would cut that out the documentary for sure. So to end all the comments of people who only watched 1 minute and not 18x45 minutes. I say it is not propaganda and very worth to watch it all at least once in your life. It is made from the perspective of Russians and I think that for some seeing pictures of victory without the star-spangled banner in the background is too much to handle ;)

Overall a good documentary series, but there are some inaccuracies in both the Russian and English versions.

The British narrators repeatedly pronounce city names incorrectly or they change pronunciations severally times throughout an episode. Incorrectly spelled English graphics about participants. However, the most glaring error was in the episode "The Battle for Germany", when they show the map of post war occupation zones. The British zone and the American zone are incorrect.

it was a set up from the word go. A certain group of people (they share the same DNA) have taken on themselves to enact the biblical exodus and the crossing of the red sea on the unsuspecting 'Lamb'.
Compare Moses' actions to hitler's, arm salute over the 'water'.
Imagine the theatre on the world map and you will see the crossing of the red sea. Hitler=Kermit roosevelt, acted as Moses (no one knew his burial place, but it was opposite the House of the Lord of the Openning) vs Stalin who also acted as General McArthur. Include Cherchill (Barimor/Hunt) and you get the picture. The enactment of the bilical script on the world stage is their work of the ages. It has been going on for quite sometime.

What a shame, there are parts of this documentary that you simply can't hear the narrator over the back round. I was very excited when I found this. I understand very little about the German/Russian war front during the war. It's often overlooked compared to other aspects. I'm just sad I can't hear a lot of it. All well, I'll still watch it.

Watch it on YouTube, maybe, I encountered no such problems on YouTube..!
That, or check your stereo sound settings.

mrivera
- 07/12/2013 at 01:05

I've watched most of this series on YouTube so far and it is excellent. I just have a few minor complaints: sometimes the narrator's voice is drowned out by the music and/or German or Russian dialogue. In the re-enactments, all of the soldiers are spotlessly clean and their uniforms clean and pressed. Operation Mars, from the Rzhev Meat grinder, was a major defeat by Zhukov but is somewhat glossed over. The above synopsis underestimates the number of dead - latest studies put the number of Russian dead alone at 27 million. And the Germans came very close to winning the battle of Kursk - at Prokorovka, the tank kill ratio was 8-10 to 1 in favor of the Germans and Manstein was on the verge of a breakthrough when Hitler pulled the plug.

For Nazi soldiers who participated in genocide not only of Jews but other innocents and non-combatants like women, children, and babies?

These "soldiers" were no better than swine in uniform.

See the German video of a 2004 exhibition in Germany that proved the soldiers were no better than the SS.

Aj Boesch
- 12/22/2013 at 05:48

yeah the americans never did anything like a genocide.... have never stolen land from someone else..... war of any kind is total bullsit....

Dillon Wright
- 06/13/2014 at 04:29

How could all German Soldiers be evil and not be worthy of respect? You seem to be blinded by propaganda and years of brainwashing.

Arif
- 07/21/2015 at 23:12

You can't call fascist the real soldiers or give them respect for invading countries on the orders of a sick leader (Hitler) who killed innocent people.

John Slep
- 05/11/2014 at 21:51

Scotty, man, come on, it is so freaking un-cool to say that you respect the Nazi soliers! Get a clue, brother, this was THE most evil thing the world has ever seen, these are the same Nazi soldiers that killed American soldiers in droves on D Day, just to put it in perspective..

MrQ
- 04/14/2013 at 06:29

All the musings of armchair experts here is a bit boorish IMO. Only those who participated the war (military or civilian) have relevant opinions about it, and most of those are taken to the grave unrevealed.

It is very heartening though is how much passion the subject still generates some 68 years after the fact. Only if enough people preach it to the next generation will humanity be able to prevent the global FUBAR experienced in the first half of the 20th century.

that last comment reminds me of America winning the war against Japan. I have full respect for all those men and women who died fighting the Japanese but they faced 10's of thousands on small islands and it was not until later in the war did the Americans fight with an 'Army' (6th Army) not like the Millions faced by the Chinese for a long time or the British and Commonwealth (Canada,Australia, India, New Zealand, Nepalese, Papua New Guinea etc) forces fighting in 7 different countries against Japan.
Battle of Manchuria that the soviets fought in 1945 against over a million Japanese and was one of the most decisive victories in recorded military history but it appears that the USA won the war and it finally ended it with Nukes nothing to do with the vast majority of Japanese forces being defeated by other nations.
'Lend lease' was first started by Britain to help Soviets, French,Poles, Chinese etc a year before America another little known fact and of course Americas Lend Lease was very very important in WW2 but it was not done out of ideals of freedom and all that rubbish it was a Business transaction that made America very very rich and all the territorial gains it 'blackmailed' shattered countries for.
Wars are not that simple and more factors are involved but hey its a comment not an essay.

I am not 'America bashing' just putting certain aspects of the war in perspective.

This film is now available at the site someone else so thoughtfully posted below. I can't even write or pronounce his name!

I was mesmorized by this historical war doc because it was so well done.

It had amazing computer graphics, re-enactments and original footage.

On the youtube site, "Soviet Storm" is divided into five short segments, and there were additional links to similar Soviet docs.

It's unbelievable that anyone survived the seige of Leningrad, be they German or Soviet; I know I wouldn't!

However, some things were left out by the narrator, like the sad fact about cannibalism taking place in the city. Events such as these are told in first hand accounts in books that were written after the siege. Not only were people dragging bodies off the street to eat them; but some unfortunate children were snatched and eaten as well.

Death, is not a contribution, turning point was moscow. How about, america changes sides, does germany still lose? The defense of poland was the premise for the english and french declaration of war, yet the russians were a party to this crime. How many russians did america save?? American involvement was quite decisive, not arrogance history. I will concede widespread ignorance about ww2, us and everywhere else.

Us contribution to WW was insignifiant.They just like to take credit for the victory.If Germany would have attacked America instead of Russia,u would have been speak in german now :)

reallyskepticalguy
- 09/09/2012 at 01:40

Nonsense. In aircraft alone the US produced roughly the same number in 1944 as Germany produced from 1938-44. The same ratios apply to all other war material as well. The USA fought on two fronts and supplied Russia (and other allies) with everything from ammunition to tanks.

Olga Makarova
- 03/18/2013 at 20:44

A very telling name you have, no? ;)

Aesoucan
- 01/22/2020 at 19:31

Most of what the US produced went either to the Pacific or the Western Allies. However, the one thing that they did help with [and actually did make a difference, because the Soviets didn't have enough of] were canned foods and warm clothes, mainly boots.

Thomas
- 05/04/2012 at 07:04

Death, is not a contribution, turning point was moscow. How about, america changes sides, does germany still lose? The defense of poland was the premise for the english and french declaration of war, yet the russians were a party to this crime. How many russians did america save?? American involvement was quite decisive, not arrogance history. I will concede widespread ignorance about ww2, us and everywhere else.

for a good introduction to the eastern front, watch the battlefield series then read some books..

Yes and no.

yet again Patrick that Battlefield series is full of holes as are a lot of books and when you have studied WW2 like i have you find its hard as every side has conflicting kills, wounded, what happened where and by how many, how much was spent etc, its all different. So saying one thing is wrong and something else is not shows your inability to grasp the complexity of WW2.

This is utter bull****. The germans had to bring up heavy guns and antiaircraft weapons to knock out russian tanks. Clearly whoever made this do knows zero about military history...

LIke you sound my friend.

that is BS patrick 90% of all Soviet tanks were obsolete early 30's tanks in Barbarossa and nearly all of them got destroyed EASILY, (t/26, t/28, bt series etc) only the few and scattered T/34 40 and KV's posed any problem, it did the Soviets a favour actually as they had a clean sheet to build up a modern Tank force etc as they lost all their previous OBSOLETE tanks.

The tanks had been obsolete indeed, over half of qualified officers had been prosecuted by paranoid Stalin, yet Russians did fight instead of surrender :) with scarsely any food and any manpower left for four years till the victorious end. And invented a few things on the way, right?

Aesoucan
- 01/22/2020 at 19:33

uhm... they did say all of that in the documentary [and the other episodes of it]

urban deadite
- 04/06/2012 at 17:54

The "elephant tank" was not nickname forTiger tank, it was for self-propelled heavy AT gun Ferdinand...
not to the Soviets, the first captured Tiger was called an Elephant due to the German Divisional symbol of said animal.

There is a lapsus in Kursk episode. The "elephant tank" was not nickname forTiger tank, it was for self-propelled heavy AT gun Ferdinand. It was one of most powerfull tank destroyers in WW2, hovewer, it was ineffective against infantry due to it's lack of mobility.

Im sure there were plenty of influential factors for different countries entering the war, weather it was political, economical or just plain being invaded.You also have to take into consideration of the bias that all doc's have. All that I can tell you is that if the other side won… we wouldn’t have the freedom and liberty we have today. On the soviet point you made out, very true but I’m guessing at that point in history no one really wanted to continue to keep fighting after millions and millions of lives died… who knows I wasn’t there at the time (Patrick the atheist). All you people like patrick the atheist need to smile more and take bits of information as it is and stop being so critical over everything.

So this doc makes a statement that is wrong in the first 2 minutes (that everyone knew the peace between the Soviets and the Germans wouldn't last). Does it get better?

Is it worth watching?

30 min later: This doc sucks- it's six hours of russian propaganda.

Skimming ahead: it's boring and wrong. At one point it said that th eT34 was vunerable to german shells during barbarossa. This is utter bull****. The germans had to bring up heavy guns and antiaircraft weapons to knock out russian tanks. Clearly whoever made this do knows zero about military history.

If you are looking for a doc full of bull****, watch this- it will make the average person on the internet today (ignorant derelicts) feel warm and fuzzy inside. If you're looking for a good introduction to the eastern front, watch the battlefield series then read some books

Dude, anything running odds with US propoganda just HAS to be Soviet propoganda, right?

Aesoucan
- 01/22/2020 at 19:37

what do you think the projectiles of those aa guns and heavy guns are called?

max999995
- 03/04/2012 at 06:32

This documentary i thought was extremely well done in my opinion, I am Canadian and most of my family fought in world war two. To the average person I believe I’m a little more aware of what sacrifice has been made during the war in order to have peace and our freedom. Saying this I did have some lack of knowledge of what the Russians(USSR) did during the war due to the severity, loss and gain of the Russian people, I knew they were a major part of the war just like the west was and lost just as much or even more. I don’t want to point out the small things or make remarks like the U.S dominated the war or the British was the true force or the Russians were on the Germany’s side first ect… all that matters is that every man, women and child from almost every country and continent gave their life so that us(meaning most of us alive today) can enjoy this world for what it really is and NEVER stop remembering those who died in order to save ALL OUR LIVES. Great feedback and knowledge in the battle of the East.

"Lost just as much and even more"... Check out the toll statistics if you please, to learn exactly how much more the Russians did lose.

Sempian Agea'an
- 07/09/2013 at 18:01

And as expected, you do business with the Devil and expect to get dirty, its also rather ironic Stalin was still selling tons of steel and oil to the Germans up until the final week of the war, which was in turn used to build up the army that attacked them. It is now known hat major war crimes were also committed by the political wing of the Soviet Government same as the Germans; You cant deny that, it was two Cabals of Criminal Governments slugging it out. War Crimes are War Crimes.
You can spout that the U.S. had propaganda, blah blah...well of course they did, to sell war bonds and promote volunteers. You can't fight a war without a level of propaganda, I mean think about it! but there is a tiny humane degree in war or at least the Government should follow "some" rules of the Geneva Convention and the Soviet and German government created a whole new level of slaughter out of millions of people.
The Soviet Military also lost more because they were sloppier than the Germans at field command. Perhaps you should due some research and look at the final casualties of Third Reich at 4.5 million vs 10 million Soviet. I mean come on.... its at least 2 to 1.
Very Sad, I feel bad for the Russian people that had to be saved from One Criminal by Another Criminal, one concentration camp to a gulag.

clazy8
- 02/25/2012 at 20:28

Rayduray, it's surely worthwhile to acknowledge the enormous suffering of the Russian people and their subjects during the war, and even to compare it with losses in the West, but it's obnoxious to suggest that the neglect it's gotten in the US is a consequence of American "chauvinism". If you've given any attention to contemporaneous accounts, you'll know that the Russians were regularly portrayed in a heroic light and praised for their sacrifice. It should be quite obvious why the attention dried up once the Soviets occupied Eastern Europe and attempted to force the US, UK and France out of Berlin by starving the city.

It's furthermore foolish to judge a nation's contribution to the effort purely in terms of the number of its citizens who died or the extent of its territory laid waste. It does not detract from the valor of ordinary Russians to note that much of their sacrifice was a consequence of the low value that Stalin and his regime placed on individual lives, nor to acknowledge the 15m-20m tonnes of lend-lease supplies delivered from the US.

Finally, one can only wonder how different history might have been had Stalin not allied with Hitler to invade Poland in the first place, the move that, after all, began WW2.

Rayduray What I do not think you understand is the amount of time it takes to ready a force to storm a beach across a channel. The landing craft alone was a task not to mention the amount of supplies that a force would need to stockpile before it could even consider a channel invasion. America may not have lost as many casualties but their support with the economics and material was its main contribution to the war(In the European theater). As well a detail that is often overlooked was the treaty between the Russians and the Germans which allowed Germany to beat the West in the first place. But you are right about the arrogance of America winning the war the Russians definitely took the brunt. Although Russia left Britain and France out to dry at the beginning of the war (especially with all the oil and other materials Germany needed and got from Russia up till the day they invaded with operation Barbarossa). and all the support of material the western allies gave them in the darkest hours. P.s Joseph Stalin was just as big of a monster than Hitler......

its nice, as an american, to be able to see the war from a little bit different of a perspective. i have many friends who were raised in countries that the US has been at war with in the past and am always interested to hear what they were taught about the war from their national perspective. i know this is pretty close to the american ww2 docs out there, but it is kind of cool to see the exploits of some pretty gnarly russian fighters. im just stuck in a paradox because im not a big fan of war yet i love graphic violence, which war docs tend to have the best of.

The enjoyment of watching graphic violence is a universal human instinct. The appeal of the Roman Coloseum or the MMA Octogon, are just a couple examples. Joni Mitchell once said, (in a song) that there are Three Great Stimulants. Innocence, Artifice and Brutality. Brutality is and always was a ubiquitous source of entertainment for people everywhere.

Mirabilia Hominum
- 02/02/2012 at 12:40

I don't think it's an instinct, though – strictly speaking. Violence "attracts" (positively or negatively) simply because one unavoidably imagines himself/herself a part of it – either as a subject or object of violence... or both interchangeably. It's not about "enjoyment" (definitely not universal, unless you posit everyone is a psychopath), it's about feeling it through by proxy. Watching your fellow captive tortured and decapitated in real-time is like watching a stranger grocery shopping. The only difference: you more closely relate to the first scene – for reasons that the victim is your friend and perhaps you are next in the situation where your choice is life or death, on which everything else is predicated (the contents of your shopping bag that no one cares about, including yourself). To say, the first situation is more enjoyable (because it is somehow tied to your and, thus, everyone's instincts) is preposterous.

Olga Makarova
- 03/18/2013 at 20:49

Universal it is, I was struck by brutality of classic paintings - people have always been owed by force/strengh, whatever it strucks, other humans or nature.

Ri?ardas Sinkevi?ius
- 01/31/2012 at 11:11

Wars used to be heroic and smart... What kind of douche could say that...

Well, depends what these words mean to you. To me.. say, the current war in Afghanistan does not strike me as involving much of heroism or personal determination to win. A bunch of low-life rednecks attached to technologies try to make a few bucks. "Smart" means playing out grandiose battle-field strategies as shown in this movie. Requires some genius and balls, eh?

steve
- 04/30/2012 at 00:06

Really? Your comments strike me as coming from one who would be unwilling to take up arms to defend anything. Maybe that is a good thing. Obama is working on your behalf to make the world a better place. If there were people from other countries on your doorstep that wanted to kill you, I think we would find you trying to talk to them about their feelings while they put a bullet in your brain.

Mirabilia Hominum
- 01/31/2012 at 10:05

Wars used to be heroic and smart... Almost sacred events (something deeply anthropological and meaningful) - as opposed to today when the "strongest" stupidly bombs the cities and villages to dust murdering and starving everyone in sight, declares the victory from the comfort and safety of a TV studio, then, horrified, hide for decades in the fortified holes on the ground and finally, spat upon by children (methodically conditioned to show respect to the invaders), withdraws… to "plan" for another "humanitarian war" of dead millions and incalculable human suffering.

your comment doesnt make sense. the strategy in most of world war 2 was bomb the other guy to bits, starve out the and enslave populations of civilians, atomic warfare development(the most unheroic and stupid way to fight) and it was mostly decided by world leaders sitting in comfortable offices. how do you find that to be horribly different from today? because the war you mentioned was fought between two world powers vs. a little country? the same little country that embarassed the british and the russians once already and is lovingly known as the place superpowers go to get humiliated?

Mirabilia Hominum
- 02/01/2012 at 00:09

It does make perfect sense - provided you do not change the premises from the contents of this particular film to the "reality" of the world war 2 as it was presented to you in some other films or whatever documents you have been exposed to or not. Honestly, I do not give a damn whether it makes sense to you or not. What matters is that my comment makes sense to me. The war as I see it today is much more banal and stupid. One can tell by looking into the nature of the "heroic acts" – what it takes today for an "American hero" to procure an "iron cross" on the "battle field"...

blahblahbob
- 02/01/2012 at 01:00

banal and stupid... lets end on that!

Winston Smith
- 01/30/2012 at 18:52

This is sickening to watch because things have not really changed.The public relations has changed. War is still waged by the powerful over the weak, against the will of the people. To 'secure' foreign resources, -or, for war's sake alone, because it is hugely profitable)... drive the blind consumerism upon which our societies are based. (Read Vol II of Ian Kershaw's Adolph Hitler bio for a thorough description of this period).
Look what is happening in America today with the waging of preemptive wars, yet again. Based on lies and treason. The removal of Habeus Corpus for all people deemed an enemy of the state by the president. If these are not dictatorial powers I don't know what are.

the question is, as always, are we going to sit by and let them do this, or will we as human beings, demand and threaten those who would make the same history happen again? That is the question every person must ask themselves as the times grow dangerous and threatening. What will you do? Be a victim or a victor? Freedom or tyranny? In our lifetimes, we will have to be on one side or the other. I hope I am wrong, the propaganda machines say otherwise.